PATTI SAPONE/THE STAR-LEDGERGeorge Street Camera and Framing Company is located in an urban enterprise zone in downtown New Brunswick.

The Urban Enterprise Zone program has had spotty success in sparking economic development.

When it was established nearly three decades ago, the idea was to rejuvenate struggling urban centers with support from the state. In these areas, the sales tax was reduced to lure more shoppers. And most of the sales tax revenue collected went straight back to the cities, instead of to the state, to use for such things as sprucing up the center, hiring more cops or offering business grants to encourage development.

Now, a state consultant’s report says the program doesn’t give enough economic boost for the buck. The original goal was that these zones would eventually become self-sufficient, but many cities still aren’t. And there isn’t enough accountability for how the sales tax revenue is spent by cities, the report says. So the question now is, should we kill the program?

No, because that would mean a tax hike in the most distressed areas of the state. Gov. Chris Christie has already pared down the program, grabbing the sales tax revenue from the cities for state coffers. But so far, he’s left the lower sales tax rate — 3.5 percent instead of 7 percent — in place. That’s a relief, because low-income people in these areas have no car and few options, and are often forced to shop in their troubled downtowns.

Some of these city centers, like Camden’s, are extremely poor, and we can’t just let them die. Others are in the slow process of making a comeback. Cities like Elizabeth, Vineland and Wildwood have successfully attracted more outside shoppers under this program, the report found. Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, the largest outlet mall in the state, draws millions of international shoppers. It would never have located on a former dump site if it weren’t for the UEZ program, said Mayor J. Christian Bollwage.

So instead of ending the program for good, its goals and standards should be updated. There’s no reason to measure all the cities against the expectations set when the program was created in the early 1980s — particularly in these dire economic times.

The number of zones, which has grown from 10 to more than 30, should be re-examined. Oversight should be improved, and new goals set that acknowledge the differences between cities like Camden, which are in dire straits and need outright subsidies, and those like Elizabeth, where measurable development goals could be put in place. Improve the program; don’t end it.